Chiefs Shift to Surprising Player in 2014 NFL Redraft

Time's arrow continues marching forward, no matter how bad you want it to stop. Hindsight is a big subject in football, as fans and executives will always contemplate not drafting that one player, that one superstar that could've potentially brought their team a ring. No matter if you loved your pick or hated it, there's nothing you can do other than learn from it and move on to future drafts.

In 2014, the Kansas City Chiefs possessed the 23rd overall pick in the draft. It wasn't a high pick, but it surely allowed the team to take a franchise player. After an 11-5 regular season and a heartbreaking 45-44 Wildcard loss against the Indianapolis Colts, the Chiefs were on the edge of greatness. All they needed was a few more pieces.

Originally, Kansas City had drafted edge rusher Dee Ford with their first-rounder. An Auburn alum, Ford put up impressive numbers as part of the Tigers, finishing his five-year collegiate career with 93 combined tackles, 29 TFLs, and 20.5 sacks in a total of 52 games played. This, of course, included a National Championship with the 2010 team.

While he was meant for great things with the Chiefs, he wasn't the consistent option they were looking for. He had his ups and downs, having two years with 10+ sacks (career-high of 13 ), but also finishing his other three Chiefs' seasons with four or fewer.

According to Pro Football Focus, if the NFL had a 2014 redraft right now, with each team knowing what they know now, Kansas City should've ended up selecting undrafted guard Andrew Norwell out of Ohio State.

"Norwell wasn’t quite as dominant as 2014 class counterparts Zack Martin and Joel Bitonio, but he was a quality guard in his own right," wrote PFF.

"Norwell was named a first-team All-Pro in 2017 after leading all guards with a 92.3 PFF pass-blocking grade. His 81.7 career PFF pass-blocking grade would’ve significantly helped the Chiefs had they drafted him, as they earned bottom-10 PFF pass-blocking grades in 2014 and 2015."

Norwell was still in the league until recently, playing for the Washington Commanders. However, due to an elbow injury, he was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list in May 2023 and was released later that July.

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